1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to a cable-feeding and cable-changing apparatus for a cable-processing machine, which includes at least one stationary pivotable gripper, which in turn holds the cable firmly during the treatment or processing, and in which treatment stations are arranged within the pivotal range of the gripper, wherein at least one cable drive is provided, by means of which the cable is transported and fed to the gripper.
2. Discussion of the Background of the Invention and Material Information
Such cable-feeding and cable-changing equipment, in which cable portions are moved cyclically along a cable-processing line from treatment station to treatment station by means of double-grippers, which firmly hold both ends of such a cable portion, have been disclosed in European Patent Publication EP-A-O 483 462. A band drive, which draws the untreated cable from a roll and transports it in the desired length of the cable portions, is arranged at the beginning of the cable processing line. As further disclosed in prospectus 50M of the firm of Komax AG, CH-6036 Dierikon - Lucerne, Switzerland, a cable-stepping device can be arranged before the band drive, which enables an automatic cable change of different cables, with different cross-sections and colors, without the treatment of the cable portions having to be interrupted at the individual treatment stations.
In a cable-processing machine of the type disclosed in prior art European Patent Publication EP-A-O 509 192, the cable is fed, by means of a band drive, to a stationary pivotable gripper, whereupon the cable end, held by the gripper, is pivoted sequentially for the purpose of treatment towards the treatment stations arranged within the pivotal range. Thereafter, the cable end is cut to the required length, transferred to a second pivotable gripper and treated further until finished. Cable-processing machines of that type are less expensive and smaller than those described in the preceding paragraph and enable the processing of very short (about 60 millimeters) to very long (5 to 10 meters) leads. During a cable change due to another cross-section or another color, considerable production time however is lost in such machines, since the old cable, still being held by the first gripper, must be retracted and the new cable must thereafter be fed to the band drive.